Italy’s new affordable housing weapon is a 40% windfall tax on banks

Side view of UniCredit bank tower and the rest of the city (Credit: Francesca Volpi—Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Italy has a new trick in its bag to help people facing mounting costs due to high interest rates—by taxing banks on their surplus profits.

On Monday, Italy’s rightwing coalition government introduced a surprise windfall tax of 40% on banks making money from soaring interest rates in an effort to help mortgage-holders and first-time home-buyers.